chairman of Solarcentury, but also a government adviser on renewables. But even he admits, “Many people in DECC have said, ‘We have looked at your analysis and we simply don't agree."1067

19.11.10. Man in the (coal) news: Nat Rothschild. FT: “Just as Rothschild family agents in 19th century Cape Town and New York once constituted a vanguard of New World development, so Bumi’s provision of coal to Chinese and Indian furnaceswill drive Asia’s modern industrial revolutions. … This week’s deal saw Vallar acquire stakes in Bumi Resources and Berau, Indonesia’s first and fifth biggest coal producers respectively, for $3bn in cash and shares. Mr Rothschild insisted that Bumi will soon be bigger than FTSE 100 minerXstrata, the giant competitor which also started in coal. “By 2014 Bumi will be the biggest exporter of thermal coal to China, producing 140 million tonnes per annum,” he said. … His network of billionaire investors means he has access to funds that counterparts can only dream of. “Nat is one of the few financiers who can fund a big deal without having to call the Blackrocks and Fidelitys of this world. They want to share in the upside of investing with him” the banker added.1068

The Chinese Coal Monster - running out of puff: Euan Mearns on The Oil Drum. “In July of this year I wrote a story called The Chinese Coal Monsterdrawing attention to the fact that China would soon account for 50% of global coal production and consumption. 10% per annum growth in Chinese coal is clearly unsustainable and I posed the question "How long can this go on?" An article published in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week called China's Coal Crisissuggests the answer to this question is not much longer.1069

21.11.10.Wind of change revives Harland and Wolff. After years struggling to survive, Harland and Wolff is back in profit, having reinvented itself as a supplier to the fast-growing offshore renewable energy sector.1070

Europe agrees €80bn-€90bn Irish aid. The debt crisis gripping the eurozoneclaimed its second victim in six months on Sunday night when European finance ministers agreed to a request from Ireland for a multibillion-euro emergency rescue.

Nations that debate coal use export it to feed China’s need, says Elizabeth Rosenthal in the NYT: “Even as developed countries close or limit the construction ofcoal-fired power plants out of concern over pollution and climate-warming emissions, coal has found a rapidly expanding market elsewhere: Asia, particularly China.”1071

22.11.10. “Should nations bankroll coal plants overseas?” Elizabeth Rosenthal for the NYT. “China is the largest coal user. India is another rapidly developing society that is highly dependent on coal. And many of us are — perhaps inadvertently -– encouraging that dependence. Coal India, a huge government coal company, recently offered shares to international investors in what was the largest initial public offering ever on the Indian stock exchange. “What was at stake was essentially a $35 billion bankrolling of enhanced global warming by the capital markets,” Jeremy Leggett wrote in a fascinating post on The Guardian’s Sustainable Business blog. … Some environmentalists liken sending coal to China or investing in coal plants in India to banning heroin at home but investing in poppies overseas. After all, India does have a growing wind industry one could invest in. And for the world to limiting global warming to an increase of 2 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels, China and India will have to rely more heavily on clean energy than Western countries did during its own industrialization.”1072

“Greens wake up to China’s coal boom”: Kiran Stacey for the FT. “The problem for green activists is that while they can lobby their own governments to stop using coal as an energy source (with some success in the UK at least), they can do little to prevent private companies exporting it to China, which does not have as stringent standards. If Nat Rothschild, whom the FT described this weekend as one of the most globally-connected businessmen in the world, is willing to make a $3bn bet on exporting coal to China, the greens’ cause looks a tough one to say the least.”1073

Conservative pre-election coal plant emissions promise set to be revised. Energy companies will only have to fit CCS technology to a third of coal plants, rather than two-thirds under the original plans…. the Guardian has learned that ministers are planning to raise the limit on emissions to almost double that amount when the government publishes wide-ranging proposals on reforming the electricity market next month. It means that energycompanies will only be required to fit experimental equipment which captures and stores carbon emissions (CCS) to about one-third of their coal plants, rather than two-thirds under Cameron's pre-election promise.”1074

23.11.10. Saudi Arabia may double oil use by 2023, cut exports 45% by 2030. Bloomberg: “The kingdom consumes about 1.2 million barrels a day of oil and refined products for power generation and about the same amount of crude for processing, ACWA Power Chief Executive Officer Paddy Padmanathan said today at a conference in Abu Dhabi. Unless the government goes ahead with a plan to diversify power generation sources, crude available for export could slip to 45 percent of the total produced by 2030, he said. … Under a long term plan to diversify fuel sources by 2030, the country is likely to generate 20 percent of its power from solar plants, 20 percent from nuclear energy, 40 percent from gas and 20 percent from oil and crude products, Padmanathan said.”1075

24.11.10. China's Saudi oil imports seen up 11% next year. Reuters: “China's crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia will likely rise 11 percent next year to hit one million barrels per day, a pace slightly faster than 2010 but off the heady increases in previous years, industry officials told Reuters. … At one million bpd, China stands a touch behind the United States as the Kingdom's second-largest crude buyer. US Energy Information Administration data showed Riyadh supplied 1.07 million bpd in the first eight months of 2010 to the U.S., largely flat from a year earlier.”1076

25.11.10.Clean energy funding slumps in the last quarter. FT: “Start-up funding for clean energy companies around the world has slumped in the last quarter, falling nearly a fifth since the previous three months, according to a new report.1077

David Cameron calls fornew ways of measuring wellbeing in addition to tracking economic growth.Guardian: “David Cameronwill today launch an attack on British businesses for putting profits first and giving "little thought" to their wider responsibilities to society. … He will invoke a famous speech by Robert Kennedy, made during the 1968 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, in which the US politician said that GDP did "not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play". The PM adds: "It is high time we admitted that, taken on its own, GDP is an incomplete way of measuring a country's progress. The big problem is that it doesn't show you how growth is created. … Cameron